rian na manach - a guided tour of ecclesiastical treasures ... · 6 coincidence that it was built...

Contents

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SOUTH-WEST AND WEST CLARE TRAIL: MAP 3 34

Kilchreest … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 36

Scattery Island … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 37

Kilbaha – Little Ark … … … … … … … … … … … … … 39

Kilballyowen … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 40

Killard … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 41

Kilmurry/Ibrickane … … … … … … … … … … … … … 42

Kilfarboy … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 43

SOUTH-EAST AND EAST CLARE TRAIL: MAP 4 44

Quin Franciscan Friary … … … … … … … … … … … … 46

St. Finghin’s … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 48

Fenloe … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 49

Bunratty … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 50

Killaloe – St. Flannan’s Cathedral … … … … … … … … 51

St. Flannan’s Oratory … … … … … … … … … … … … 52

St. Molua’s Oratory … … … … … … … … … … … … … 53

Tuamgraney … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 54

Inis Cealtra … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … 55

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS … … … … … … … … … … … 58

USEFUL CONTACTS … … … … … … … … … … … … … 58

SELECTED READING LIST … … … … … … … … … … 59

FOLD OUT MAP … … … … … … … … Inside back cover

PrefaceThis project was initiated by Clare

County Council in associationwith The Heritage Council and EnnisFriary. It is with great anticipation thatwe welcome all who participate inexploring Clare’s EcclesiasticalHeritage. The guide, titled Rian naManach, gives the visitor anopportunity to follow in the ‘pathwayof the monks’. From the EarlyChristian period to the great MonasticOrders and through to the Medievalperiod there is a great variety ofecclesiastical sites to be visited.Each visit will be a memorableexperience as many of the churchesare sited in peaceful surroundingsoffering time for quiet reflection andspectacular views of Clare’s richlandscape.

Thirty three ecclesiastical heritagesites are featured in the guide with afurther twenty five listed on theindividual trails. An introductionoutlines the historical background toClare’s rich ecclesiastical heritage.Unfortunately it was necessary toomit some important sites owing todifficulty of access.

The back cover has a fold-out mapshowing all four trails presented:The Mid-Clare Trail, The North ClareTrail, The South-West and West ClareTrail and The South-East and EastClare Trail. Each individual trail hasan accompanying map at the

beginning of each trail description.The trail invites you to enjoy a varietyof ecclesiastical wonders. Some arelocated in towns where there isample parking available and mosthave at least enough provision for asmall number of cars. A few of themore isolated examples have noformal parking facilities and it isnecessary to park on the roadside.While the quietness and remotenesscan greatly enhance the enjoyment ofyour visit we ask you to exercisecaution when parking your vehicles.

The trails offer a rich variety ofinterest to all visitors. The visitor isguided through each site featured inthe booklet and various details arenoted and described. The richness ofthe architectural features andstonework is highlighted.

We suggest that you use theDiscovery Series maps produced byOrdnance Survey Ireland toaccompany the guide. The relevantmap numbers are: 51, 52, 57, 58, 59,63, and 64.

We hope that your visit to each sitewill be a memorable experience andthat you will have many memories tosavour of the Ecclesiastical Treasuresto be found in Clare.

Olive Carey & Clodagh LynchClóbh Research

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RéamhráChuir Comhairle Contae an Chláir

i gcomhairle leis an ChomhairleOidhreachta agus Mainistir na hInsetús leis an tionscadal seo. Is le croímór a chuirimíd fáilte roimh gachduine a mbeidh páirt acu idtaiscéalaíocht Oidhreacht Eaglastaan Chláir. Tugann an treoirleabhardarbh ainm Rian na Manach, deisdon chuairteoir cosán na naoimh aleanúint. Ón Luathré Chríostaí go dtína hOird Manachúla agus ar aghaidhgo dtí Ré na Meánaoise, tá réimsemaith suíomh eaglasta éagsúla annchun chuairt a thabhairt orthu. Beidhgach cuairt mar eachtra nachndéanfar dearmad uirthi mar tá líonmaith de na séipéil i dtimpeallachtsuaimhneach inar féidir machnamhciúin a dhéanamh agus radharcannaiontacha de thírdhreach an Chláir afheiceáil.

Sa treoirleabhar déantar cur síos artríocha trí suíomh eaglastaoidhreachta agus tá fiche cúig eileliostaithe ar na slite indibhidiúla.Léirítear sa réamhrá an cúlra stairiúilatá ag Oidhreacht eaglasta shaibhiran Chláir. Go mí-ábharach b’éigeandúinn limistéir thábhachtacha áirithea fhágáil ar lár de bharr rochtain godtí na limistéir seo.

Tá léarscáil infhillte ar an gclúdach athaispeánann na ceithre slí atáthar ágcur i láthair: Meán-slí an Chláir; SlíThuaiscirt an Chláir; Slí Iar-Dheiscirtagus Slí Iarthair an Chláir; Slí Oir-

dheiscirt agus Slí Oirthir an Chláir. Táléarscáil ag dul le gach slí indibhidiúil afhaightear ag tús tuairisc gach slí.

Fáiltíonn an cosán dúlra thú go dtí goleor limistéir álainn eaglasta.Tá cúplaacu lonnaithe sna bailte agus tá a lánáiteanna páirceála ar fáil agus tááiteanna eile le spás iontu do chúplacarr. Nil áit pháirceála ag cúpla ceannde na limistéir agus ta sé riachtanachpáirceáil ar thaobh an bhóthair. Fiú gobhfuil sé ciúin agus iargulta, tá sétábhachtach go mbeidh tú airdeallachagus tú ag páirceáil.

Cuirtear ar fáil réimse saibhir sna slitea mbeadh spéis ag gach cuairteoir ann.Treoraítear an cuairtear i ngach suíomhatá sa leabhrán agus tá sonraí eágsúlanótáilte agus tuairiscithe ann. Cuirtearan spotsolas ar shaibhreas na ngnéitheailtireachta agus ar an obair chloiche.

Molaimíd na léarscáileanna “Discovery”atá foilsithe ag Ordanáis SuirbhéireachtÉireann chun dul leis an treoirleabhar.Is iad uimhreacha na léarscáileannacuí ná: 51, 52, 57, 58, 59, 63 agus 64.

Tá súil againn gur eachtra nach ndéan-faidh tú dearmad air a bheidh agat ingach cuairt dá dtabharfaidh tú ar nasuíomhanna agus go mbeidh líon maithcuimhní agat ó na Seoda Eaglasta atáar fáil i gContae an Chláir.

Olive Carey agus Clodagh LynchClóbh Research

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Churches new and old havetheir fascination for the mind,

those roofed as they assist infulfilling our need for prayer, andthose ruined because they helpus to a heightened appreciation ofthe past. County Clare can countitself fortunate and privileged inbeing well endowed with bothvarieties. T.J. Westropp did a briefhistorical survey of the medievalsites in the whole of Clare morethan a century ago, augmentedfor the northern half of the countyby Averil Swinfen’s admirable1992 book Forgotten Stones andother books on the Burren, aswell as articles by John Sheehanand Sinéad Ní Ghabhláin, detailsof all of which are given in theSelected Reading List at the endof this volume. With the exceptionof Tom May’s 2000 Galway -based book on Catholic churcheswhich includes those in thediocese of Kilfenora, bothCatholic and Protestant churchesbuilt during the last two centuriesstill await extensive coverage.It is all the more to be welcomed,therefore, that Olive Carey andClodagh Lynch have now takenthe initiative to present us with aselection of the best of both med-

ieval and modern throughout thewhole county, thus providing usall with an educational backdropto history, creating a source ofpride for the people of the countyand acting as a magnet to attractthe tourist from far and wide.For a county that has stone inabundance, it comes assomething of a surprise to realizethat there is not a single survivingchurch that can be dated back tothe time of the great monasticfounders in the sixth and seventhcenturies, who were obviouslyquite content to worship their Godin small oratories made of wood,or even of earth comparable tothe fragmentary exampleexcavated by Liam De Paor onInis Cealtra more than thirty yearsago. Wood would probably havebeen a more widely-availablebuilding material at that time thanit is now, which may have been acontributory reason as to why wefind no stone churches in Clarethat we could reliably date to anytime within the first five centuriesof Christianity in the country.

We have to wait until 964 for thefirst historical reference to both achurch and a Round Tower in the

Introduction by Dr. Peter Harbison

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County, when the importantannalistic source known as theChronicon Scotorum tells of thedeath in that year of Cormac UaCillín, abbot of Roscommon,Clonmacnoise and Tuamgraney,who built the ‘great church’ atTuamgraney and its Cloigthech(Round Tower). Though repairedby Brian Boru, the tower has longsince disappeared, but the churchremains in the form of the nave ofthe present church at Tuam-graney, a building which has oneof the longest traditions ofreligious worship anywhere inthese islands. It is a classicexample of the oldest kind ofIrish stone church, having amonumental doorway with in-sloping sides supporting amassive lintel, and using verylarge wall-stones in a style that isdubbed ‘cyclopean’. This typicalmasonry is found in many of thesmaller churches of Clare,probably up to and including thetwelfth century, establishing a finetradition of stonework which wasto last – with interruptions – untilthe end of the Middle Ages.

In their simplicity, such earlychurches generally bore no

decorative sculpture, and recentresearch by Richard Gem hasrevealed that it was County Clarethat introduced the first knowninstance of surviving architecturalsculpture in Ireland. This was onthe stone oratory of St. Flannanin Killaloe, which was built for theO’Brien kings of Thomond withina decade or so of the year 1100.This may also be among the firstIrish churches to consist of bothnave and narrower chancel, andto use the Romanesque style ofdecoration, which gets its namefrom its predilection for therounded arch as practised by theancient Romans. This style was tobecome very popular in Clare, aselsewhere in the country, andfinds exuberant expression in thedoorway at Dysert O’Dea. Inbuildings such as the Cathedralsof Kilfenora and Killaloe, itsurvives in a late variant knownas ‘The School of the West’around 1200 and later, at a timewhen the style had already beenwidely replaced by the pointedGothic east of the Shannon.But it is worth noting that St.Flannan’s oratory is dedicated tothe favourite saint of the O’Brienkings of Munster, and scarcely a

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coincidence that it was built ata time when the O’Briens wereleading the Irish religious worldin staging a Synod at Cashel in1101. This ushered in Romanways into the Irish ecclesiasticalsphere, the effects of whichduring the course of the ensuinghundred years, were to toll thefinal knell of most of the oldIrish monasteries which hadcontributed so much to retainingthe history and culture of thewhole country up till then. In theseefforts at church reform, theO’Briens were assisted by St.Malachy of Armagh, whose intro-duction of Cistercians andAugustinians into Ireland duringthe 1140s was to revolutionisenot only religious life but alsomonastic architecture. The simpleolder churches gradually madeway for much larger buildingcomplexes with a church at oneside of a cloister garth, which wasotherwise flanked by domesticquarters for the monks. This wecan see exemplified by theCistercians at Corcomroe in theearly thirteenth century, and twohundred years later by theAugustinians at Clare Abbey,as well as by the Franciscans in

their major foundations atEnnis and Quin. These lattertwo friaries in particular representan architectural resurgence ofGaelic Ireland after a longinterval of apparent inactivitywhich was largely the resultof wars engendered by theencroaching Norman invadersin the second quarter of thethirteenth century.

Monasteries and friaries were,however, only one aspect of Irishreligious life in the later medievalperiod, and they are relativelyrare in comparison to the muchmore ubiquitous smaller churchesthat came to be built around orafter 1200 to adapt to the newparochial system introduced bythe religious reforms in thepreceding century. Such parishchurches, often just longrectangles in shape, served therural population for generationsuntil, with the advent of what Imay call the ‘Gaelic tiger’ in thefifteenth century, sufficientaffluence prevailed for many ofthem to get a new ‘make-over’,involving more elaboratedoorways and sometimes larger –and more decorative – windows.

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A notable feature of these Clareparish churches of the period isthe prevalence of stone heads,possibly representing bishops orchurch founders. This tradition ofecclesiastical sculpture found itsfinest tradition in the county in thecarvings in Ennis friary, probablyassociated with a masons’ work-shop which drew its inspirationfrom England and the Europeancontinent.

The Tudor period, with king HenryVIII suppressing monasteriesand robbing them of theirpossessions, together with QueenElizabeth forcing her armies onthe unwilling Irish, meant thatchurch building gradually groundto a halt in Clare and elsewhereas the sixteenth centuryprogressed, Bunratty underO’Brien patronage being a rareexception. Again, it was reallywars that drained money awayfrom church construction, and itwas really not until the nineteenthcentury that there was once morea widespread re-creation ofchurch architecture in Clare,frequently copying decoration andthe Gothic style from the oldertradition of the later Middle Ages.

The prodigious building activityat the time filled so much of theneeds of the parishes of both ofthe main religious denominationsthat there was very little need tobuild new churches in the lastcentury, which is why Clare hascomparatively few architecturallynoteworthy churches of thetwentieth century.

Clare can be proud of itsremarkable tradition of churchbuilding going back a thousandyears, assisted by the wideavailability of local stone –limestone in the north, andlaminated shale and sandstonein the south. But what more thananything makes the County’schurches stand out during thatmillennium is the expertise of itsmaster masons in building anddecorating walls, and carving finesculpture – a deep well of styleand craftsmanship which, despitelong gaps going underground,almost miraculously re-appearsafter centuries of hibernation tobring joy to anyone who will notbe put off by visiting ‘old ruins’,but will see there the expressionof pride in decorating the housesof God for all to pray in and enjoy.

MID-CLARE TRAILMID-CLARE TRAIL

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Copyright Of Ordnance Survey Ireland. All Rights Reserved. Licence Number: 2003/07/CCMA/Clare County Council Mid-Clare Trail. Not To Scale

MID-CLAREECCLESIASTICAL TRAIL

The sites labelled with a Red Dot aredescribed in detail throughout this booklet

Ecclesiastical Sites

Co. Clare Boundary

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The Franciscan friary close to theriver Fergus is the medieval jewel

of the town of Ennis, with whosehistory it is inextricably linked. It wasestablished in the thirteenth centuryby Donnchadh Cairbreach O’Brien,and richly endowed by him andsubsequent members of his familythroughout the late medieval period.A description in the early-fourteenth-century Campaigns of Turlough givesan impression of the glory of theFriary at that time:

Turlough built this for the friars as hisburial place and permanent memorialand had given them chalices, bells,crucifixes, embroidered cloths, agood library, glass windows, etc.

The Friary became one of the mostimportant religious centres in thearea and was the site of a school oftheology that at one time supported a

community of three hundred and fiftymonks and six hundred pupils. Thiswas, indeed, the last school of itskind in Ireland to survive the Reform-ation. In the sixteenth century theFriary became the centre of Englishgovernment in Clare; courts wereheld here, there were apartments forroyal officials on visits to the newlyshired county and there was even ajail. In 1606 Ennis Friary was thescene of the formal abolition of theancient Irish system of law known asthe Brehon Laws.

There remain today the ruins of thechurch and south transept, with acloister area surrounded by domesticbuildings to the north. The chancel

Ennis Friary

Mid-Clare Trail – Map reference 1

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with its elegant east window, onceglazed with blue glass, is the mainsurvivor of the earliest phase ofbuilding in the thirteenth century.The Gaelic Resurgence that tookplace in the fifteenth century with thedecline of the Anglo-Norman colonyis manifest at Ennis Friary in theadditions to the building (cloister,tower, west window and the windowsin the south transept), but particularlyin the high-quality tombs andcarvings. The Inchiquin tomb on thesouth wall of the chancel was theburial place of the O’Briens, while onthe north wall the Creagh tomb(1843) incorporates sculpted panelsfrom a McMahon tomb of the laterfifteenth century. These show theCrucifixion and Resurrection of Christand other figures representing the


Apostles. A woman shown on one ofthe panels may be a representationof More Ní Brien, the possiblefounder of the tomb. At the foot of thenave side of the tower is a figure ofSt. Francis showing his stigmata and,on an arch between the nave andtransept, the image of Ecce Homo.The sculptures in Ennis Friary appearto be the work of a single workshopobviously working under the patron-age of the O’Briens and other prom-inent Gaelic families of the locality.

The Friary is open to the public fromApril to October. There is a smalladmission charge and a guided touris available. There is also a noticeboard with information.

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Situated in the town of Ennis andlocated beside the river Fergus,

the Church of Ireland church of St.Columba has many works of art tooffer the visitor. Designed by FrancesBindon, it was built in 1871 and hassome very fine Neo-Gothic carvingwhich can be seen on the capitalsboth inside and outside the church.

Unusual features within the churchinclude the 24 reredos figures inceramic tiling with mosaic finishing.These figures, which provide an arrayof colour, were executed in the 1930sby Catherine Amelia O’Brien, a veryaccomplished Clare artist whoworked mainly in the medium ofstained glass, and two of herwindows can be seen in the porch.

The church also has other interestingstained glass, including that formingthe east window, the two centre lights

St. Columba’s Church


of which are of German manufacture,the other four being English. The finewest window is dedicated to GeneralBindon Blood, while that in the southwall came from Killadysert when thechurch there ceased as a place ofworship. The three large oil paintingsover the stalls in the chancelillustrating Old Testament scenes arethe work of Brigid O’Brien Ganly, whowas a direct descendant of thefamous king Brian Boru. As for thefurnishings, the carved oak choirstalls were made in the 1920s anddedicated to those who served in theGreat War, while the lectern andchairs came from the nearbyPresbyterian church that is now theDe Valera library. The decorativeorgan, now over 130 years old, isstill in good working order.

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The Canons Regular of StAugustine played a role in the

setting up of the diocesan systemin Clare that came about becauseof the church reform that wasinstituted during the twelfth century.

Clare Abbey was the first, largestand the most important of theAugustinian houses that wereestablished in Clare. The Abbey,which was dedicated to SaintsPeter and Paul, was founded in1189 by Donal Mór O’Brien, Kingof Munster, who granted it largetracts of land, and also endowedthe County with the abbeys ofKillone, Inchicronan, and CanonIsland. Though officiallysuppressed by King Henry VIIIaround 1540, it succeeded inremaining in existence (at leastnominally) until the middle of theseventeenth century.

Clare Abbey


The building complex consists of achurch, cloister and a range ofdomestic buildings, some of which datepartly from the fifteenth century, whenthe tall central tower was insertedalong with the fine east window with itssimple mullions and attractive circulartracery. But the remnants of an earlierset of lancet windows, probably five intotal, which are still visible on eachside of that east window, show thatconsiderable parts of the fabric of thechurch may date to the thirteenthcentury. Sculptural features worthy ofnote on the outside walls are thehuman head with prominent nose andwavy hair placed at the top of the eastwindow, and the face which decoratesthe hood-moulding of the chancel’snorth window. Located south of thechurch are the domestic buildings,where the remains of a fireplace canstill be seen, and the south-easterncorner of this block has a two-lighttransomed window with very finecurvilinear tracery and exteriormoulded hood. The remains of thespringing element of the diagonal ribof the former cloister vaulting can befound in all but one of the corners ofthe cloister. The base of an engagedcolumn in the cloister garth onceformed part of the cloister arcade, butis now used as a headstone.

Notice board at the site.

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Overlooking a bend in the RiverFergus, Drumcliff has been the

site of ecclesiastical settlement sinceEarly Christian times. While thepresent church dates to the fifteenthcentury, some of its architecturalfeatures and the presence of theround tower suggest that this is thesite of an older monastery, possiblyfounded by St. Connell.

The church follows the usualrectangular plan and has seen muchrefurbishment and re-building. Theround-headed single light window inthe west gable is a survivor from anearlier church of around 1200, andwas inserted in this church in afifteenth-century rebuild. The double-light, ogee-headed window in theeast gable and the doorway in thesouthern wall are, however, an


Drumcliff Church & Round Tower

original part of the fifteenth-centurychurch. Visible low down on theinside jamb of the door is afleur-de-lis decoration.

The Round Tower is much ruined,having been damaged by the ravagesof time, and perhaps also by lightningstrikes. The doorway and twowindows described in 1809 havesince disappeared. As with mostRound Towers, the doorway waslocated at some distance from theground and would have beenreached by a ladder. Round towersserved a variety of purposesincluding physical landmarks,security lookouts, places of refugefrom attack, repositories for churchtreasures, as well as bell towers - astheir Irish name Cloigthech or ‘bell-house’ implies.

To the south and west of the churchare a number of nineteenth-centuryvaults belonging to the prominentfamilies of Ennis town. Arranged in astepped formation the vaults add adramatic appearance to the hill onwhich Drumcliff is located. The sitecontinues in use as the municipalgraveyard for the town of Ennis, andhas extended its boundaries acrossthe road towards the river.

There is a well-researchedinformation panel available on site.

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Situated in lush farmlandoverlooking the river Fergus,

this church offers time for quietreflection. Very little is knownabout the founding saint, but it isthought that his name may havebeen ‘Máille’, as the church isknown in Irish as Teampall-Ua-Máille (O’Malley’s Church).A possible alternative saint is St.Finghin of Quin whose feast-daywas celebrated here. Mention ofEcclesia Imaili in the PapalTaxation of 1302-1306 probablyprovides us with the first historicalreference to the existence of thischurch.

The church is in good conditionand its attractive setting makesany visit memorable. In its presentform it dates largely from thefifteenth century, though someparts may be older. The entrance

Templemaley Church


is located in the south wall, andis pointed on the outside and flat-headed with lintel on the inside.

There are two windows alsosituated in the south wall, one ofwhich is of simple construction.The second window, which islocated at the eastern end, isround-headed, and consists oflarge sub-rectangular blocks with alarge sill stone forming the base ofthe window. Although one side ofthis window has broken away, thereis some very interesting decorationto be seen near the top of it. Twoincised lines on both sides of thearch and a plait-like motif arerecognisable, and form part of anintricate decorative detail which,though now difficult to discern, maydate back to the twelfth century.

The east window has a wideembrasure on the inside, and theoutside is constructed with cutlimestone, featuring a neatlyrecessed moulding that forms thelong narrow light.

Two simply carved stone crossesof unknown age are to be found inthe south-eastern end of thegraveyard.

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Originally a barn, this church wasbuilt by Catherine Keightley

O’Brien between 1715 and 1720 anddedicated to the saint whose nameshe bore. Catherine and her husbandLucius O’Brien, grandson of MáireRua of Lemanegh, lived in CorofinHouse between 1706 and 1717, andprovided much of the impetus for thedevelopment of the modern village. Inthe 1820s, the church was in need ofrepair and the vestry and tower wereadded, with the aid of a grant fromthe Board of First Fruits. Therenovation saw the insertion of thebeautiful stained glass windows withthe east window portraying the threevirtues: faith, hope and charity. Thechurch served as the Church ofIreland parish church until 1974 butnow accommodates a folk museumand exhibition space, part of theClare Heritage Centre andGenealogy complex - the brain-child

St. Catherine’s Church Corofin


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of the remarkable village school-master, Naoise Clery.

Most of the displays in the main build-ing depict aspects of life in Ireland inthe nineteenth century but, arguably,the most important artefact in themuseum is the Tau or T-shaped cross,a twelfth-century monument whichoriginally stood beside the road onRoughan Hill, a short distance fromKillinaboy church. A replica now standson the site, which may have marked thetermon boundary or limit of sanctuaryof the original church. The distinctiveshape of the Tau cross is similar to atype of staff used by pilgrims whotravelled overseas to variousdestinations in Europe in the twelfthcentury. Representations in stone arefound at a number of locations in thisarea of north Clare, and one theorylinks these sites in a pilgrim routewhere a venerated T-shaped crozier,most likely fashioned in bronze, wouldhave been brought on procession fromplace to place. The Tau cross may havemarked a resting place en route wherepilgrims could rest and pray.

The Clare Heritage Centre is open fromMay to October, and there is a chargefor admission. The genealogy centre isnearby and is an invaluable resourcefor those wishing to trace their ancestryin Clare.

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One of the most instantlyrecognisable features of early

church architecture in Clare is themagnificent Romanesque doorway ofDysert O’Dea. The doorway wouldoriginally have been located in thewest gable of the church and isprobably an amalgam of at least twodoorways of twelfth century date. Itconsists of four orders decorated withgeometric motifs, foliate scrolls andanimal interlacing, and is dominatedby the outer arch of nineteenvoussoirs containing twelve humanand seven animal heads.

The church and round tower arelocated on the site of an EarlyChristian hermitage founded by St.Tola in the first half of the eighthcentury. The ruins are nestled in aquiet valley surrounded by rollinghills, and they still evoke that senseof peace and solitude encapsulatedin the name ‘Dysert’, meaning ‘aquiet place’ or ‘place apart’. The ruins

Dysert O’Dea


of the church show evidence ofsuccessive periods of re-building andrepair. A feature of early Irish churchsites is the High Cross, located here ina field to the east of the church andpossibly marking the termon boundaryof the monastic settlement. The eastface of the cross bears a figure of Christon top with a representation of a bishop(possibly St. Tola) below. The missingright arm of the bishop, probablyoriginally raised from the elbow andmade of bronze, was movable forbestowing blessing or curing an illness,for carrying in procession, or perhapseven for use as a talisman in battle.

Dysert O’Dea was the scene of adecisive battle in 1318 when the Anglo-Normans suffered a crushing defeat atthe hands of local chieftains, thusensuring the continued dominance ofGaelic culture in Clare for a further twocenturies. The O’Deas were the localruling clan who built their tower-housenearby in the fifteenth century. They alsoprovided many leading ecclesiasticalfigures throughout the medieval period,and the magnificent crozier and mitre,which were made for Cornelius O Dea,Bishop of Limerick from 1400 till 1426,still survive and are on display in theHunt Museum in Limerick City.

The tower-house now contains anArchaeology Museum and informationcentre. There is a small charge for entryto the museum and refreshments areavailable.

Notice board at the site.P Coach and Cars

(Arch. Centre nearby)

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Enhanced by recent maintenancework, this church is prominently

sited on a ridge north of DysertO’Dea and affords the visitorspectacular views of the surroundingcountryside. It is dedicated to St.Blathmaic, who is traditionally said tohave been born in a nearby rath orringfort that still bears his name.

The church, which had a nave andchancel, is in a ruinous state, but thewealth of its carved stonework morethan compensates for its dilapidatedstate. The large blocks in the northwall are the oldest part of the church,which cannot be dated satisfactorily,but many of the decorated stonesbelong to the period around 1200,and these have been incorporatedinto the fabric of the later sections ofthe church built around the fifteenthor sixteenth century.

Entrance is gained on the south sidethrough a round-headed doorway,which has a stoup inside which wouldonce have contained holy water.The same side preserves the onlysurviving window, which has anogee-shaped head typical of the laterMiddle Ages, though it uses a sill-stone from an earlier window. That

Rath Church


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same position would have beenoccupied in a different window byanother stone now set upside downin the wall between that sole-surviving window and the door.Boldly carved with foliate decorationand serpents’ heads, it has on itsright hand side (though now inverted)what has been taken to be Ireland’s


earliest known Sheela-na-Gig.Beside it is a stone bearing floraldecoration, perhaps belonging to aseries of ornamental stones, anumber of which survive in the wallsurrounding the graveyard. Otheritems of interest inside the church arethe wall-plates which served to holdup the wooden rafters, and thecurious ornament on stones re-usedto support the chancel arch.

Another, and even more fascinating,example of a carved stone re-used inthe later medieval re-building of thechurch is one near the southern endof what little survives of the exterioreast gable. Originally upright andcarved on two adjoining faces, butnow lying on its side with only oneface visible, it shows a mancrouching on a stool and framed bya kind of mandorla. Whatever he mayhave been meant to represent, it islikely that the carving was based on acontinental, perhaps French, model.The mitred head of a bishop whichhas been inserted into the wall nearthe south doorway is a recent copy,the original having been removedsome years ago to embellish thewest gable of the Catholic Churchin Corofin.


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NORTH CLAREECCLESIASTICAL TRAIL



Co. Clare Boundary

22

This ruined church is situated onan elevated site between the

villages of Corofin and Kilfenora, andoverlooks Lough Inchiquin and theriver Fergus. Its name in Irish, CillInghine Bhaoith, means ‘Church ofthe daughter of Baoth’, a lady aboutwhom nothing is known for certain.Much of the present building dates tothe fifteenth or sixteenth century, butits decorative features and masonrystyles indicate that parts of the northwall and the projecting anta at thenorth-western corner may be two orthree centuries older. That anta isone of the two projecting ends of thewest gable which overlooks theroadway. Standing out from this wallis a tall double-armed cross withIonic-like capitals on the head and

arm-ends. Based on a Byzantineshape associated with reliquaries ofthe True Cross, it suggests that thischurch may once have possessedsuch a relic. The stone forming thebase of the cross does not fit incomfortably with the rest of thecarefully-hewn blocks, and this hasled to the suggestion that the crossmay have originally stood above adoorway of c.1200, but that when thelintel bearing the base of the crosssnapped, much of the gable had tobe rebuilt, and when the church waswidened in the same process, thecross was re-installed but in an off-centre position. That extensiverebuilding took place in the fifteenthor sixteenth century, and involvedchanging the entrance from thewestern end to the south wall, wherea Sheela-na-Gig is placed above theround-headed doorway. Crudelycarved, it represents a woman

Killinaboy Church

North Clare Trail – Map reference 14

23

showing her genitalia, an almostgrotesque figure of a kind found onrural churches throughout Irelandand Britain. However, heateddebate over the last few decadeshas failed to find any generalconsensus about the function orsignificance of such carvings.

Inside the door, on the left, is therepresentation of an imaginaryanimal carved in the early thirteenthcentury on a stone that wasprobably upright originally, butplaced horizontally when re-used inits present position. Both long wallsof the church interior are lined withinteresting monuments going backto the seventeenth century andbeyond, most notable of which arethose close to the eastern end ofthe church where the gablecontains an unusually-shapedwindow. Some of the stone wall-plates which originally bore woodenrafters are carved with masons’marks to show which craftsmen didwhat.

To the north of the church is thestump of a Round Tower, probablybuilt around the eleventh or twelfthcentury. On the other side of thechurch, near the south-westerncorner of the graveyard, is a flatslab bearing the image of a Tau orT-shaped crozier, similar in shape tothat of the Tau Cross which stood


about a kilometer and a half to thenorth-west of the church before beingremoved to the Heritage Centre in St.Catherine’s church in Corofin andreplaced by a modern replica.

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The village of Kilfenora, CillFhionnúrach or ‘Church of the

Fair Bow’, plays host to one of Clare’simportant Cathedrals – and itslargest collection of High Crosses.The Cathedral which we see today,however, stands on the site of amuch earlier monastic settlementsaid to have been founded by St.Fachtnan in the late 6th century AD.Through the years the site wasplundered and burned on a numberof occasions, but what has remainedfor the visitor is an interestingcombination of architecture andstone carving. The oldest part of thebuilding is the large cyclopeanmasonry in the lower courses of thenorth wall, which may well be athousand years old. At the Synod ofKells in 1152, Kilfenora was chosento become the center of a newdiocese, and the old church was

enlarged to befit its new-found statusas Cathedral. Because it therebybecame the largest and mostimposing church in the area,Kilfenora attracted much patronageand served as the burial place for themost prestigious in society. The navestill serves as a place of worship forthe Church of Ireland, and is enteredby a round-headed doorway with thehead of a mitred bishop above.Inside, a fluted baptismal font datingto c. 1200 resembles some of thedecoration to be found on one of thecapitals of the east window. Locatedwithin the porch are the tomb effigiesof a bishop and a cleric/nobleman ofaround 1400AD.

The imposing east window of thechancel is beautifully proportioned,its stones fitted closely together inthe style of the ‘School of the West’,which is commonly found west of theShannon and is transitional betweenthe Romanesque and the Gothic. Itsthree narrow lights, each with a wideembrasure, provided light for thecathedral, and are framed by a rolledmoulding with a round arch, whichends with two birds pecking at a floraldesign. Similar mouldings alsodecorate the mullions, and thecapitals are highly ornate with a floraldesign and figures of clerics carvedin high relief, above which is a plainmoulding surmounted by an eggmotif. The quality of the carving here

Kilfenora Cathedral



25

is truly splendid and gives the visitora sense of the importance of the sitein its day. Added to this are thebeautifully carved High Crosseswhich are now located in therecently-roofed north chapel, wheredetails about them are presented oninformation panels. The only HighCross which is apparently still in itsoriginal position is that located in afield to the west of the Cathedral.Kilfenora is unique in having so manyHigh Crosses at one site (and thereis a further one that was taken awayto Killaloe almost two centuries ago),all of them bearing testimony to theprominence of this place in the

ecclesiastical history of Clare.St. Fachtnan’s well is situated at theend of a laneway a short distancenorth of the church. A stone set intoits side wall bears a Latin inscriptionwhich, in translation, reads:

Donald MacDonogh created this little work for God and SaintFachtnan with the authority andPermission of the Bishop ofKilfenora in the year of our Lord1687.


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The Augustinians were foremostamong the continental monastic

orders to establish themselves inClare during the twelfth century andthey settled in Kilshanny on landsgranted to them by Donal MórO’Brien. Traditionally thought to belocated on the site of an earlierestablishment founded by St. Cuanathe Canons dedicated their abbey toboth the Virgin Mary and St.Augustine the patron saint of theirorder. His feast day August 28th isobserved as a parish holiday inKilshanny and St. Augustine’s holywell, located close to the ruins of theabbey, is still frequented.

The constraints imposed by the sitingof the church on a small hilltop nodoubt contributed to the departurefrom the usual arrangement inmedieval churches of locating thedoorway along the south wall. AtKilshanny there are three entrances:

Kilshanny


one in the west gable and two in thenorth wall. The finely constructedround-headed doorway closest to theeast gable is probably original whilethe pointed doorway is a later insertion.One wonders why it was necessary tohave so many entrances but this is alarge church and there may have beeninternal divisions that have long sincevanished. The small window above thedoor in the west gable and someprojecting corbels suggest thepossibility of an upper room at this endof the church perhaps serving asdomestic quarters for the monks.

The east gable contains a lovelygothic, three light window with inter-secting tracery under which is an altarcovered with a large flagstone possiblya re-used grave slab. At the momentthis is largely hidden under a shrubthat has taken root inside the church.The window in the south wall close tothe east gable has lost two mullions,described in 1839, which would havedivided the window into three lights.Two further narrow slit windows, arelocated along the south wall.

A small, hemispherical bell knownvariously as the bell of St. Cuana, thebell of St, Augustine or the bell ofKilshanny was revered in the locality asa sacred relic. It is possibly the samebell that is depicted on the graveslab inKillinaboy together with a tau cross.The bell is now in the British Museum.

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Kilmacreehy church is situated ona slight elevation along the coast

road between Lahinch and Liscannor,and offers a panoramic view ofLiscannor Bay. Built with local flag-stone, the church, in its present state,dates to the fifteenth century, butremnants of a much earlier churchcan be found in the lower courses ofthe masonry in the north wall.

The church is associated with St.Mac Creiche, who is credited withseveral church foundations, and issaid to have been eighty years oldwhen he founded this one.Although the details of his life arevery uncertain, stories about hisactivities abound. One of the legendstells of his having killed a great eelwhich rose from the sea anddesecrated the graveyard.Monstrous animals are associatedwith other ecclesiastical sites inClare, such as Scattery Island, andtales about them may haveencouraged the carving of imaginarybeasts on some of the county’schurches, including Kilmacreehy,where they are found on the remainsof two canopied tombs on the interiorlong walls near the eastern gable ofthe church. The hood moulding of thenorth tomb ends in an animal withpointed ears, large eyes and huge


Kilmacreehy Church

28

jaws, and which displays its ferocityby showing its pointed teeth. Theanimal on the south tomb is some-what more subdued, with a longneck; it is shown merely biting amoulding. Two sculpted heads whichonce decorated these tombs wereremoved in 1992 and 1993; only onehas so far been recovered and is nowdisplayed in the Clare Museum,Ennis.

An unusual feature is the small southporch which provides access to thenave. The church consists of a naveand chancel separated by a pointedarch. Just inside the doorway is anattractive faceted stoup. The eastwindow splays widely on the insideto allow maximum light into thechurch. Externally, a double ogee-headed window is decorated with afloral motif and interlace, surmountedby a hood moulding, exemplifying the


joy masons took in decorating churchwindows in Ireland towards the endof the Middle Ages.

The Saint’s bed is located to thesouth of the church in a cluster ofrocks on the strand. Sand from hereis known locally to quell any storm orgale when thrown in its path and,today, many householders keep MacCreiche’s sand for this very purpose.His well, which was once muchrevered for its curative powers,has now fallen into disuse.

A saddle back quern stone, used forgrinding corn, was found near thechurch in 1999 and is now in theClare Museum in Ennis. Thecelebration of St. Mac Creiche’s feastday, which falls on the 2nd August,has been revived in recent times.

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Killilagh church stands on a height,flanked by a prehistoric barrow

and an early medieval ringfort, andearns its apt alternative title of‘Church of the Cliffs’ because of theviews it provides of the Cliffs ofMoher and the marine landscapearound Doolin. Nothing is known ofthe founding saint, though it ispossible that his name was Falie.

The church suffered greatly in 1903when a ‘big wind’ demolished theeast gable and destroyed its round-headed lancet window. The remainsof a belfry can be seen on the westgable. Inside, there is a very fineround arch constructed of dressedand punched stonework which leadsinto a side chapel. One of the stonesof note that forms the arch has adesign consisting of diagonal lineswithin a sub-rectangular frame. Theogee-headed windows in the chapelare worthy of inspection for their

Killilagh Church


beautifully dressed stonework. Notethe floral decoration on the top of oneand how, on the double ogee-headedwindow, the ends of the hood-moulding step outwards.

The stone head of a cleric projectingfrom a large rectangular block andwearing a head-dress known as abiretta was uncovered some decadesago by two local men in the groundsof the church, and is now displayed inthe Burren Centre in Kilfenora. Prof.Rynne dated the head to the secondhalf of the 16th century.

Many of the tombstones that can beseen in the graveyard were quarriedfrom Trá Leathan (Wide Strand) whichis located on the nearby shore. Thegrave of a shoe-maker showing thetools of his trade is located to thenorth of the church. Here also are twoinscribed stones, one in Latin. Southof the church is the MacNamara vaultwhich was used as a place ofinternment during ‘the Troubles’. Noburials ever took place there.

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The Rathborney river has given itsname to a fine church that

nestles in its valley. The locationprovides rewarding views within theBurren, the lush vegetation of thevalley contrasting with the stark butbeautiful bare limestone above it. Toget to it, you have to travel about 2kmalong the road from Ballyvaughan tothe Corkscrew Hill, and then branchoff along the Burren Way.

The most unusual feature of thisfifteenth-century church is that it issited within a ringfort (Rath Boirne orBurren Fort), traces of which are stillvisible to the south and west of thechurch. This suggests origins in anearlier period and continuity in burialcustom for many centuries down toour own day. The fabric of the churchis largely intact, mainly due to itsgood-quality stonework. The visitor isimmediately struck by the neatly-

Rathborney Church


carved east window consisting of adouble pair of cusped ogee-headedlights with a hood-moulding – adesign repeated in a window nearthe eastern end of the south wall.

Entrance to the church is through apointed doorway in the south wall,which still preserves its finely-moulded arch even if its jamb-stonesno longer survive. Its damageddouble-oped stoop in the right-handside of the doorway is a typicalfeature of many Clare churches ofthe Later Middle Ages. High up nearthe corner of the western end of thesouth wall there is a carved headwhich, despite its badly-wornfeatures, forms one of the gallery ofstone heads representing saints orbishops so often found on Clarechurches dating from around thefifteenth century. Another featureworthy of note is the lovely rarevaulted roof of the font.

The graveyard outside has a numberof simple stone crosses which maylook ancient but are probably ofmore recent vintage. A shortdistance from the church is a bullaunstone with a man-made depression,probably for holding water,suggesting that this may havebeen a site of pilgrimage manycenturies ago.

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The strikingly beautiful remains ofCorcomroe Abbey situated in a

fertile valley surrounded by barelimestone hills is one of the delightfulsurprises in the Burren landscape.Here the Cistercians found theessential ingredients for the locationof their monastery: fertile soil, waterand solitude. That most beneficentchurch builder Donal Mór O’Brienfounded the abbey in the final decadeof the twelfth century, although it islikely that building did not begin untilearly in the thirteenth.

Smaller than most Cistercian founda-tions, the abbey is unusual also forthe quality of its decoration, much ofit characteristic of the ‘School of theWest’, the work of a group of masonsworking in the west of Ireland at theturn of the thirteenth century. Theirswas a transitional style that combinedelements of the exuberant Romanes-


Corcomroe Abbey Sancta Maria de Petra Fertili

que and restrained Gothic in a fusionthat gives visual expression to theparadox incorporated in the name ofthe abbey St. Mary of the Fertile Rock.

At Corcomroe the decoration is concen-trated at the east end of the church, inthe rib vaulting of the ceiling and in theflowers and human and animal headsthat adorn the capitals of the chancelarch and the arches of the north andsouth chapels. An effigy of King ConorO’Brien, killed in a battle in 1268, is oneof the very few representations of aGaelic lord to survive from this period.Clearly, at the end of this first phase ofbuilding, a drastic change in fortuneaffected the foundation at Corcomroeand the unadorned nave area of thechurch stands in marked contrast tothe elegant east end. The bell towerthat shortens the internal length ofthe church and the west doorway arefifteenth century insertions. Of thedomestic buildings, only the eastrange survives and it is possible thatthose of the west side of the cloister,normally reserved for the lay brothers,were never built or perhaps built ofwood which has not survived.

The ruined gatehouse can be seen onthe left side of the road as one enters theparking area. The fields in the immediatevicinity still follow the strip pattern laidout by the monks of Corcomroe.Notice board at the site.P Coach and Cars

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This church is situated ina delightful setting within

Kilcorney valley, which Westroppdescribed as having ‘crags sheetedwith mountain avens and in placesperpendicular cliffs’. This nave-and-chancel church has suffered greatlyover time, but this should not deterthe curious visitor from examiningsome of its details. Recentmaintenance work has greatlyenhanced this church’s appeal.

Kilcorney Church


Little is known of St. Cóirne, thefounding saint, but the formerpresence of one earlier churchlocated to the west and another tothe north, bears testimony to theecclesiastical importance of the site,and the isolation of the church todaybelies the previous ecclesiasticalactivity in the area.

Lying on the ground to the south ofthe church is an exceptional stoneof Romanesque date which oncedecorated the top of the east window.

The stone has a curious projectinghead and floral decoration. A similarstyle of stone also decorates the eastwindow of Inchicronan Abbey. Insidethe church there is a pyramidal fontwith a narrow base standing on asimilarly-shaped plinth.

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The contrast between ancient andmodern is strikingly expressed in

the middle of the Burren, where anold and a modern church stand sideby side at Noughaval, which is knownin Irish as Nua Chongabháil, ‘NewEcclesiastical Place’. The site isdedicated to St. Mogua and a holywell dedicated to him is located to theeast of the church. The lowermasonry courses of the western endof the north wall may be the oldestpart of the church, as they containlarge limestone blocks of a kind usedin a number of Clare churches in thefirst two centuries of the secondmillennium. Rebuilding in the earlythirteenth century saw the addition ofa chancel. Probably at the same time,a new doorway with undercutchevron was inserted in the southwall, its style being so similar to thatfound, for instance, in the chancel atCorcomroe that the same masonsmay have been employed in theconstruction of both buildings. Inside


Noughaval Churchthe church, rounded mouldings decoratethe imposts and jambs of the chancelarch. Don’t miss the small animal headat the north-eastern junction of the jamband the impost; its ears are set back andits open mouth appears to be biting themoulding. The western end of the churchis now completely destroyed. Located tothe south of the church is a so-calledleacht, surmounted by an early ringedcross, which may have functioned as analtar or special grave. Such monumentsare indicators of an early Christian date.Also nearby is the O’Davoren mortuarychapel which contains the vault of afamily which was associated with afamous law school at Cahermacnaghten,not far away, during the sixteenth andseventeenth centuries. The market crosswhich stands at the entrance to the oldchurch and graveyard was used as ameasure of length.

The modern church was originallylocated at Ballyvaughan, where it servedthe Church of Ireland community. In1941, however, it was dismantled, stoneby stone, and brought to Noughaval,where the stones were all re-assembledin their correct positions to replace anolder and dilapidated church in which thelocal Catholic parishioners had prayed.The Stations of the Cross, the statuesand the lectern were all saved from theold Catholic church for use in the ‘new’one, which surely exemplifiesecumenism at its best.P Cars

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Co. Clare Boundary

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Kilchreest, the church of Christ,stands on a height near the

village of Ballynacally about 12kmsouth-west of Ennis and, for thosewishing to deviate from the mainroad to visit it, it provides views ofConey and Deer Islands in theFergus estuary. In the foundationcharter of Clare Abbey, dating from1189, Kilchreest is listed among thelands owned by the AugustinianCanons, and it was administeredduring the Later Middle Ages bytheir monastery on Canon Island inthe Fergus estuary. Both Kilchreestand Canon Island were suppressedat the time of the Reformation, andtheir possessions were sub-sequently granted to the earl ofThomond in 1605.

The ruined, but nevertheless well-preserved, building dates from thefifteenth century, and is entered

Kilchreest Church

South-West and West Clare Trail – Map reference 30

through a pointed doorway withangular head in the south wall. Thedouble-oped stoop or holy water fontin the right-hand jamb of the doorwayis a feature found in a number of latemedieval churches in Clare, but israre elsewhere. Unusually, there is asecond doorway in the south wall.Some of the windows havefortunately avoided destruction, thatin the west wall having three lightswith switch-line tracery. An altarstone bearing a Maltese cross wasdiscovered in the church in 1956.Of white marble, possibly of Frenchorigin and thought to have beencarved in the seventeenth oreighteenth century, it is now far awayin the Holy Name church at EastPreston in Melbourne.

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Scattery Island is strategicallysited near the mouth of the

Shannon estuary, and is easilyreachable by a short boat trip fromKilrush. Known in Irish as InisCathaig, ‘the Island of Cathach’, thisis a magical and tranquil place, anda visit here will leave specialmemories in the minds of those whomake the journey. The main focus ofthis unspoilt island is the oldmonastic settlement, dominated bya tall Round Tower which may haveserved to summon the monks toprayer, and which stands out like abeacon guarding the five survivingchurches in its shadow. Thisattractive cluster of buildings owesits origins to St Senan, a popularand much travelled saint who diedin the year 544. He is known tohave visited Rome and, on hisreturn journey, stayed with St. Davidin Wales. Other foundations are also

attributed to him, including Inis Mór(Canon Island) and Inis Caorach(Mutton Island). Myths and legendsabout him abound, which hasadded to his appeal and notoriety.Thomas Moore immortalized him inverse for his treatment of St.Conaire, a female saint whoseabiding wish was to visit Scatteryand be buried there - a wish thatwas finally granted.

The cathedral is the mostimpressive and largest of thechurches, and bears all thehallmarks of a once beautifullyornate church. Several buildingphases can be detected throughchanges in its stonework, a feature

Scattery Island


38

in Clare churches which, in thisinstance, was due to a desire toenlarge its capacity. The west gablehas antae, which occur on earlyIrish churches. These areprojections from the side wallsbeyond the gables, designed toprovide support for the woodenbarge-boards. Several headsdecorate the window in the southwall. On the outside, the pointedeast window has a hood mouldingwhich ends in two animal headsand is surmounted by a bishop’shead which is reputed to representSt. Senan.

Just north of the cathedral, andrather dwarfed by it, is a diminutiveOratory, which is a nave-and-chancel church where remnants ofthe Romanesque style can be seenin the highly ornamented stoneworkthat once enhanced the chancelarch. The same features can be


found in St. Senan’s church farthernorth, which is reputed to be theburial place of the saint, andwhere there is also an Oghamstone and cross-decorated slab.The highest point of the island isKnockanangel or ‘Hill of theAngel’, and that is where legendsays the archangel Michael placedSt. Senan to fight a monster whohad been devouring anyone whowanted to occupy the island – andguess who won? On the hill is achurch which may be as old as theeleventh or twelfth century, but isnow much ruined. Betterpreserved, however, is Teampallna Marbh, or ‘Church of the Dead’,which is closer to the shore, andmay date in part from thethirteenth century.


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The Catholic church atMoneen, not far from Kilbaha,

is the home of the ‘Little Ark’, asmall wooden structure on four tallwheels which has a remarkablehistory attached to it, dating backto the time in the mid-nineteenthcentury when there was no churchat the western end of the LoopHead peninsula. Fr. MichaelMeehan, the local parish priest,had been dispossessed of thedwellings he had acquired, andwas not allowed to say Mass inthe large territory controlled bythe tyrannical local landlord of thetime. The only place where thisbigot was powerless to preventcelebration of the Mass was onthe strand between high and lower

The Little Ark – Kilbaha


watermark. So, in 1852, Fr. Meehanhit on the clever idea of constructingthe Ark, placing an altar inside anda ladder outside for access, andthen rolling it down to a placebetween high and lower water markwhere he could say his Massundisturbed. For four years, from1853 to 1857, rather than ‘leave thepeople on Sunday without thecomfort of religion’, Fr. Meehancelebrated Mass at low tide ‘while alarge congregation kneel around mein the puddle, bare-headed, underthe open air’.

Fr. Meehan finally got his ownchurch, which was dedicated onFebruary 10th, 1858, and it is there,in a side-chapel to the left of thehigh altar, that the ‘Little Ark’ ispreserved (minus its door) as apoignant reminder of the strugglefor religious freedom in Clare amere century and a half ago.

Fr. Meehan was given his finalresting place in front of the altarrails in 1878, where his admiringand grateful parishioners erected acommemorative tablet bearing hisunforgettable words:

‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith’.

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Although it is difficult to dateKilballyowen (the church of the

town of Eoghan) it is likely to havebeen built in the fifteenth century.It probably occupies the site of anearlier church as there is a mentionin the Papal Register of 1302 ofKillmolihegyn but no part of an earlierbuilding survives. The churchappears not to have changed sinceMason’s Parochial Survey of 1816mentioned that it was without a roofand that it probably had none for theprevious century and a half. It isnecessary to incline one’s head asone enters through the pointed archof the doorway, an indication that thepresent ground level is considerablyhigher than it was originally, aconsequence of repeated burialsboth within and outside the church.The graveyard is still in use as aburial ground for the local community.Although no carved stone was used

Kilballyowen


in its construction, this is an attractivechurch built of the thin flagstones socharacteristic of traditional buildingsin this part of west Clare. With its bellcote atop the west gable one canalmost visualise the local congreg-ation being called to worship from thewindswept surroundings.

A mid to late fifteenth century lime-stone baptismal font depicting thefigure of Saint John the Baptist wasfound during renovations to the floorof the church early in the nineteenthcentury. It is undoubtedly the work ofmasons who worked on the monu-mental tomb sculpture and othercarvings in Ennis Friary. The Kilbally-owen font falls into a small group ofapostle fonts from Ireland dating fromthe late fifteenth and early sixteenthcenturies. It is currently undergoingrestoration and will be available forviewing in the Clare Museum, Ennisat a future date.

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The original builders of this littlechurch could hardly have select-

ed a more dramatic site to locatetheir edifice, as it is situated on aheight (Cill Árd – High Church) over-looking Doonbeg bay to the east withMutton Island a short distance out inthe wild Atlantic Ocean to the north.

At first sight the remains of thechurch at Killard are less thanimposing but closer examination willreward the visitor with a glimpse intothe complex story written in itsancient walls. That this is a two-period construction is evident fromthe two very different building stylesat either end of the church. The eastand west gables remain standing,though not perfectly preserved, withshort lengths of the side wallsadhering to both, whereas the centralportion which would have containedthe doorway in the south wall haslong since succumbed to the

Killard


elements. The most interesting andoldest part of the church is to be foundat the east end, which is scarcely muchearlier than the year 1200. Built ofirregular courses of limestone masonry,the east gable contains a small, earlywindow which, externally, is surmountedby a semi-circular top cut from a singleblock, while on the inside the top of thewindow is formed of two thin slabs laidone against the other to form a triangle.An unusual carving of a bearded headis found built into the gable to the rightof the east window as one looks at itfrom the inside. A heavy growth oflichen obscures the details, so it isnecessary to really examine the stonescarefully in order to discern the carving.It is probable that this eastern portion iswhat remains of the church mentionedin the Papal Taxation list of 1302. Thewestern end of the church is obviouslyan extension added on when thebuilding style had changed a fewcenturies after the eastern end wasbuilt. It is constructed of closely-fittedthin flagstones and contains a narrow,flat-headed window in the west gable.In 1900, the gable still retained its plainbell-cote but this has since disintegrat-ed. The large burial ground surroundingthis church is still in use and the field tothe west contains a holy well dedicatedto the Creator of the World(Craithaitheoir an domhain), whererounds are performed on Good Friday.

Please close the gate at the entrance tothe track way that leads to the church.

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Located on the western seaboard,the ruins of this large parish

church stand sentinel to a time whenthe population of this part of thecounty was much greater than it istoday. Its east gable had alreadyfallen by the time O’Donovan andCurry visited it in 1839, and a changein masonry styles along the northwall indicates that this church, built ofwest Clare slate, was enlarged or re-built. It does not appear to be earlierthan the fifteenth century and is notmentioned in the papal taxation listsof 1302. There is a broken bellchamber over the west gable, whilea window and corbels indicate thatthere may have been a gallery orliving quarters for the priest at thisend of the church. The south wallcontains a fifteenth-century cutlimestone doorway and is abuttedexternally by three nineteenth-century tomb vaults. The vaults arereplicated in the extensive cemetery,which occupies both sides of theroad and almost takes on theappearance of a village.

Kilmurry/Ibrickane


Inside the church, a niche in the southwall contains the fragmentary remainsof a medieval statue. This is the lowerportion of a Pietà, which is one of twosuch representations to survive inCounty Clare, the other larger frag-ment being preserved in the friary inEnnis. Not many examples of suchfreestanding stone sculpture survivefrom medieval Ireland, so these two,unfortunately, fragmentary Pietàcarvings are invaluable indicators ofthe types of statuary that adornedIrish churches during the Later MiddleAges. Both sculptures show theseated virgin with the dead Christdraped across her lap, and her lefthand grasping his right arm, justabove the elbow in Ennis and belowthe shoulder at Kilmurry. The closestparallels for this particular positioningof the virgin’s left hand come fromexamples carved in alabaster knownfrom the Rhineland. Pietàs weredeveloped in Germany around theyear 1300 to evoke contemplation andmeditation on the suffering of Jesusand the redemptive power of hissacrifice, but they appear not to havebecome popular in Ireland until thefifteenth century. Both Clare examplesprobably date to the second half ofthe century and stylistically showaffinities with the monumental carvingon the McMahon tomb in Ennis Friary.It is highly probable that they are theproduct of a single workshop based inEnnis.

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Kilfarboy nestles comfortably inthe valley of the Carrowkeel river

north-east of Miltown Malbay. Thechurch offers panoramic views of thehills around about and westwardstowards the coast, while at the sametime inviting the visitor to enjoy thepeaceful setting.

In the Papal Taxation of 1302-7,the church is recorded asKellinfearbreygy. In Irish its name isCell Fearbaigh, the church of St.Fearbach, about whom nothing isknown. Unusually, however, it is alsoassociated with a second saint,Lachtain, who has connections withCork and Kilkenny, and whose armreliquary is preserved in the NationalMuseum in Dublin. On his feastday,March 19th, his well in the south-west corner of the churchyard wasthe focus of a popular local ‘pattern’or pilgrimage. Typical of the westcoast of Munster are the well-built

Kilfarboy Church


house-shaped tombs in the churchyard,those of the FitzGerald and Shannonfamilies having on a wall between thema slab on which coffins would have beenplaced prior to burial.

What survives of the church dates largelyfrom the fifteenth century, though largestones in the lower masonry coursessuggest that it incorporates parts of anolder structure. Time and the weatherhave inexorably taken their toll on thefabric of the church, which has long lostits west gable. A well-constructed pointedlimestone doorway in the south wall isseparated from the relieving arch by asingle course of local flagstones, andbuilt into the right-hand jamb of thedoorway is a fine double-oped stoop orwater font. There are some attractiveogee-headed windows in the east andsouth walls, the former ornamented witha trefoil design in the spandrel. The northand south walls preserve some of thewall-plates which held the rafters, andother interesting features includenineteenth-century grave-slabs carvedwith the Crucifixion and related symbols.

There is a colourful, but probably erron-eous, local tradition that sailors from theSpanish Armada were buried in thechurchyard, but one who certainly wasinterred here, though in an unmarkedgrave, was Aindrias Mac Cruitín, thehereditary bard of Clare, who died in1738.

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Copyright Of Ordnance Survey Ireland. All Rights Reserved. Licence Number: 2003/07/CCMA/Clare County Council South-East And East Clare Trail. Not To Scale

4544

SOUTH-EAST AND EAST CLARE TRAILSOUTH-EAST AND EAST CLARE TRAIL

SOUTH-EAST AND EAST CLAREECCLESIASTICAL TRAIL



Co. Clare Boundary

46

Quin Abbey consists of a strikingand impressive complex of

buildings that form the focal point ofthe attractive village that bears itsname. The Abbey stands proudlyabove the ruins of a Norman castlethat was built by Richard de Clare toassert his power in Munster. But itssuccess as a fortification was short-lived because, only six years later,the castle was razed by theMacnamaras.

Uncertainty exists about suggestionsthat the Abbey, or more correctlyFriary, was founded in 1402, or evenbefore 1350, but we can be certain,through a Bull of Pope Eugene IV,that it was given to the Franciscans ofthe Regular Observance in 1433 byMaccon Macnamara, who is probablyalso responsible for having built theAbbey on the castle’s foundations.The Abbey, which is one of the best

preserved of its kind in Ireland, hasfine stonework which entices us tostudy the architectural features as ourpath follows the footsteps of the friarswho lived and prayed here in the LaterMiddle Ages until it was suppressedby king Henry VIII around 1540.

The entrance to the Abbey is at thewestern end of the church through around-headed doorway withgraduated hood-moulding and a pairof lancet-windows above. Once inside,one is struck by the size of the naveand chancel arch, topped by itscentral tower. Inserted into the southwall of the nave is a water font whichreplicates the vaulting underneath theroof of the tower. A large arch in thesouth wall of the nave leads to atransept which must have addedgreatly to the brightness in the churchthrough its four windows. That in thesouth wall is similar in design to theeast window of the chancel, whichhas trefoil heads above the threelights, and switch-line tracery whichwas easy and economical toconstruct. Beneath the south windowis a piscina which was used forwashing communion vessels, itsmouldings echoing those of thedoorway and the cloister arcades.

Two original stone altars flank thearch of the tower at the eastern end ofthe nave, and within the south wall ofthe arch is a space which was part of

Quin Abbey

South-East and East Clare Trail – Map reference 43

47


the doorway of the original castle,and may have had a further altar init. The main altar is naturally beneaththe east window, which is striking forthe height and width of theembrasure. There are several notablewall tombs within the church, that ofthe founding Macnamaras in thenorth wall of the choir beingbeautifully carved in replicating someof the designs of the east windowand the cloister arcade. From thechoir, access to the sacristy is gainedthrough a door with notable detail atthe bottom of the jamb-stones.

The cloister is entered from thenorth side of the tower, and its calmatmosphere invites a mood ofreflection. It consists of a series ofdouble arcades separated bybuttresses, with columns (sometimestwisted) bearing heavily-mouldedcapitals of a kind unique to Quin.Close examination of the columns willreveal a variety of mason’s marks,

one with a leaf and geometric design,bringing us closer to the men whosecarvings and designs give addedpleasure to today’s visitors. The friars’domestic quarters are accessiblefrom the cloister, though it is nolonger possible to assign formerfunctions to each of the rooms.Before completing the tour, it is worthwalking around the outside of theAbbey to appreciate its scale andstonework. The west wall has aremarkable pair of windows, withcusped ogee-shaped heads, andhood-mouldings ending in floraldesigns. For such a large andimposing building, it is surprising thatnot more is known about the historyof the Abbey, which must be countedamong the stars of Clare’s medievalecclesiastical foundations.

The Abbey is open to the public fromMay to September.


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This large parish church was builtbetween 1278 and 1287 by

Richard de Clare and probablyreplaced an earlier church on thesite. It is dedicated to St. Finghin, along forgotten saint of the early IrishChurch.

The church is situated across theRine River from Quin Friary, which isbuilt on the site of an earlier Normancastle, also built by Richard de Clare.A recently constructed footbridgeprovides access between the twomonuments.

The church has a simple rectangularplan with an adjoining bell tower atthe south-western corner that wasadded in the fifteenth century. Themost striking feature of the church isthe triple lancet east windowseparated by piers. Two niches oneither side of the east window may

St. Finghin’s Church


have contained statues. The remainsof a richly moulded window may stillbe seen in the south wall and abroken pointed doorway is locatedclose to the tower at its west end.A wooden screen probably dividedthe interior of the church into a largenave and a smaller chancel.

Interpretive sign on site.

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St. Luchtighern, son of Cutrito,lived during the early sixth

century A.D. and is believed to be thefounder of a monastery here. Hecertainly chose well, for this site isbeautifully situated overlookingFenloe lake (Finlough). The churchshows evidence of building andrefurbishment over three separatephases. Large blocks of masonryaround the door area represent theearliest phase, and may date tobetween the tenth and the twelfthcentury. During the Anglo-Normanoccupation of this area in the latethirteenth and early fourteenthcenturies, the church was restoredand some fine cut sandstonewindows were inserted into the southwall and east gable. One can stillappreciate the quality of theworkmanship of the stonemasonswho carved the windows, particularlyin the richly-moulded double-light

Fenloe (Tomfinlough)


south window. Finally, in the fifteenthcentury, the triple light east windowwas blocked up and a double lighttrefoil-pointed limestone window wasinserted. The doorway was alsoinserted in the fifteenth century.A buttress has been erected againstthe southeast corner to support theleaning east gable.

A walk in the graveyard will revealthree Romanesque carved heads,one in limestone and two ofsandstone, inserted into the south-eastern corner of the perimeter wall.These heads were originally placedover the lintel of a trabeate doorwayin a small oratory, which survived intothe nineteenth century. A stone,known locally as the ‘Plague stone’,can be found built into the outside ofthe perimeter wall in the south-western corner of the graveyard. Thestone has curious markings and, withthe heads, is referred to in a legendassociated with St. Luchtighern whichcan be read on a plaque located atthe holy well beside the road.

Unfortunately, during high winds onthe 10th January 2007, the eastgable fell. This unfortunate occurancehighlights the extreme vulnerability ofthese ancient buildings and the needto be mindful of personal safety whenvisiting them.

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The documented history ofBunratty begins in 1199 when

the surrounding area of Tradraighewas granted to Arnold Keating.In 1248 the land was granted toRobert de Muscegros who beganto fortify the place. Apart fromsome medieval fish-traps whichhave been located in the mouthof the Owenogarney River and theShannon Estuary, there is littlevisible archaeological evidencefor the short-lived Anglo-Normanborough which occupied the siteof Bunratty in the thirteenth andearly fourteenth centuries. Fromdocumentary evidence we canestimate that, in its hey-day, thesettlement was home to 1,000people, had a weekly market andan annual fair. The earliestevidence for a church on this sitedates to 1256 when ‘a priest Peterwas appointed perpetual vicar’.

Bunratty Church


All visible remains of the thirteenthcentury church have vanished andthe present church ruins date tolate in the sixteenth century whenthe fourth Earl of Thomond,Donough O’Brien, re-edified thebuilding.

One of the hidden gems of thecomplex of late medieval Gaelicbuildings at Bunratty, the church issituated on the high ground to thesouth-west of Bunratty castle andis accessed via the service roadbehind Bunratty House Hotel. Itssituation affords spectacular viewsover the Shannon Estuary. It is alarge, rectangular building with apointed door, a triple light windowclose to the west gable and twoogee-headed single light windowswith decoration in the spandrels inthe south wall. Its original eastwindow has been partially blockedup. In his will written on November28th, 1617, Donough ‘leavessufficient glass, out the store ofthat commodity in the castle toglaze the windows’. There is nosaint associated with the church.The number of fine tombs andvaults within the church andgraveyard indicate that this wasthe main burial place for theprominent landowning families ofthe locality.

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River crossing points wereimportant centres for monastic

settlement and, as such, Killaloe wasideally located. Situated on the riverShannon just below Lough Derg, amajor waterway artery, St. Flannan’sCathedral is an imposing structure.Built around the early-thirteenthcentury, it is dedicated to St. Flannanwho was installed as first bishop ofKillaloe in 639 AD. It is well worth-while taking time to wonder at thesplendour of the decoration to befound here.

The cathedral is cruciform in planwith a central tower but withoutaisles. The north transept was closedoff around 1880 and used as aChapter Room; it now functions as avestry. The south transept served asa court until the nineteenth century,and is used today as a side chapelfor weekday services.

St. Flannan’s Cathedral


On entering the church, one is immed-iately drawn to the east window. Thistriple light with a decorated hoodmoulding dominates the interior of thecathedral. The piers between the lightsrise upwards and have decoratedcapitals. These are unusual as they arepurely decorative and have no otherfunction. Corbels along the north andsouth walls have decorated capitals ofvarying designs and, like those of theeast window, are worth examining fortheir intricate detail. They display anarray of decoration which is charact-eristic of the ‘School of the West’. Thisstyle, found frequently in the west ofIreland as its name implies, featuresornamental and figurative designs inthe architectural decoration of buildings.

Located in the south-western corneris an elaborate Romanesque doorway.It is exuberant in its decorative detail

52

and for the many motifs that aredisplayed. It is one of the best-preserved examples of Romanesquesculpture in the country and mayhave decorated an earlier church onthe same site.

A twelfth-century High Cross whichonce stood at Kilfenora is nowlocated within the cathedral anddemonstrates the art of the sculptor.The fragmentary shaft of another

St Flannan’s Oratory, a smallstructure dating to around the

year 1100, is located on the northside of the cathedral. It is one of asmall number of Irish churches withstone roofs and is important aspossibly the oldest survivingchurch in Ireland built in theRomanesque style. The entranceis through a doorway in the west


St. Flannan’s Oratory

High Cross with runic and oghaminscriptions is nearby. A thirteenth-century water font is another of thetreasures to be seen in this finecathedral. The organ is in regularuse, having recently undergonemajor refurbishment and enlarge-ment. A chime of eight bellsreverberates throughout the townannouncing services.

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gable which is relatively plainexcept for the moulding and thecapitals of the columns, one ofwhich is carved with two animalssharing a single head, and theother bearing foliate decoration.The best parallels for this doorwayare to be found in England.

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The Church of St. Moluaoriginally stood on Friar’s Island

in the River Shannon about a miledownstream from Killaloe, but wasdismantled when that part of thevalley was flooded as part of theShannon Hydro-Electric Schemein 1929. It was re-erected in thegrounds of St. Flannan’s CatholicChurch in Killaloe in 1930. TheChurch is dedicated to a seventhcentury saint Molua, from whom thedistrict of the town derives its name(Cill Molua – The Church of Lua).

The church is a two-celled structureand is important as a rare examplein Early Christian Ireland of apitched stone roof covering itschancel. The narrow dimension ofthe east end of the church and theuse of mortar permitted theconstruction of the straight-sidedroof but it is probable that some

St. Molua’s Oratory


timber crossbeams were used assupports internally. It is likely thatthe nave was roofed with wood orthatch and is undoubtedly theearliest part of the building, butperhaps not much earlier than thechancel which was added in thetwelfth century. The chancel mayhave been built to house a relic ofSt. Molua, and its construction wasno doubt influenced by the stone-roofed oratory of St. Flannan whichwas erected in Killaloe a short timebefore.

The eighteenth century saw a risein interest and pride among theIrish learned classes in Ireland’spast and St. Molua’s was the objectof exceptional interest as anexample of early Irish churcharchitecture. We are fortunatethat a number of drawings andengravings of it survive from thatperiod. One of those engravings,which appeared in Grose’sAntiquities of Ireland of 1791, wasprepared from a drawing by JamesGandon, the famous architectwho designed the Custom Housein Dublin. Today, the little oratorycontinues to draw our interestand fascination at the buildingtechniques that allowed the stoneroof to survive for almost athousand years.

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The church at Tuamgraney isnotable for a number of reasons,

not least for the fact that it has beenin continuous use as a place ofworship since before its most famouspatron Brian Boru repaired thechurch and the long-vanished roundtower about the year 1000.

A monastery was founded here by St.Cronan in the early part of the sixthcentury AD, and was noted as acentre of learning. Plundered by theVikings in 886 and again in 949, themonastery continued to flourish.Cormac Ua Cillín, an abbot ofTuamgraney built the church heresometime between 949 and 964 AD,the year of his death (CronicumScotorium). The church was repaired

Tuamgraney


by Brian Boru and forms the nave of thepresent church which currently functionsas the East Clare Heritage Centre. Thiswestern part of the church has manyfeatures characteristic of early Irishchurch architecture - the projectingantae at the corners of the gable,cyclopean masonry and the doorwaywith inclined jambs and massive lintel.

The introduction of the diocesan systemin the twelfth century provided theimpetus for the embellishment of manychurches, and this process can be seenat Tuamgraney in the addition of theslightly narrower chancel in contrastingashlar masonry that is now used fordivine service by the Church of Ireland.In its south and north walls it haswindows made up of assorted Roman-esque fragments, not all of which wouldnecessarily have been used originally inthis church, and it has been suggestedthat some of them may have beenbrought here from Killaloe. Noteworthyis the expansive east window, now filledwith fine stained glass by the Englishartist A.E. Childe, who helped with theestablishment of the famous An TúrGloine glass studio in 1903. Thiswindow was only recently installed here,having been brought from the Church ofIreland church in Sixmilebridge, forwhich it was originally made.

There is a charge for entry into theheritage centre and information andbooking for trips to Inis Cealtra may bemade here.

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The important island monastery ofInis Cealtra (Holy Island) lies

near the western shore of LoughDerg close to the village of Mount-shannon, from where one can book aboat trip to the island. This island hasbeen the focus of ecclesiasticalactivity since the earliest centuries ofChristianity in Ireland. St. Colum, whodied in 548 A.D., is reputed to havefounded a monastery here, but it isSt. Caimin who is most stronglyassociated with the early monasticestablishment on the island in themiddle of the seventh century. Themonastery was plundered by theVikings on two occasions, once in836 AD and again in 922. Both thedocumentary and the archaeologicalevidence for this early period of themonastery’s existence is slight butpersistent, and the overall picture isone of a small but continuousoccupation until the tenth century

when the rise to power of the local DálCais tribe resulted in an increase inpatronage for Inis Cealtra and the firstchurches built of stone on the island.There is no doubt that the monasterygrew in size and importance from thisperiod onwards.

St. Caimin’s, the earliest stone churchon the island, replaced an earlierwooden building. It was originally asingle-celled building with a simpletrabeate west doorway and wasreputedly built by Brian Boru who diedin 1014 AD. It is likely that the roundtower was built at the same time.

The main focus of building activityhowever, was in the twelfth century,when the chancel was added to theeast end of St. Caimin’s and thedecorated west doorway inserted inplace of the original. The Romanesquechurch of St. Brigid’s was constructedas well as the building known asTeampall na Bhfear nGonta or theChurch of the Wounded men. Theoriginal purpose of this small buildingis not clear but in later times it appearsto have served as a mortuary chapelfor the O’Grady family. It was duringthe twelfth century also that the Saints’Graveyard was laid out and walled infor the first time. Finally St. Mary’schurch was built in the thirteenthcentury and functioned as a parishchurch after the monastic system hadgiven way to a diocesan one.

Inis Cealtra


56

The curious building known as the‘Confessional’ lies just outside thenorth wall of the Saints’ Graveyard.It is possible that this structurehoused sacred relics and thusbecame the focus of pilgrimageactivity on the island. Indeed anincrease in pilgrimage activity wouldaccount for the number of churchesbuilt in the twelfth century and thereare a few tantalising pieces ofevidence that suggest that InisCealtra was visited by pilgrims at thattime. The Annals of Innisfallen recordthe death of Cathasach in 1111 whileon ‘his pilgimage’ to Inis Cealtra.It is tempting to link this entry to aninscription on one of the crosses nowhoused inside the nave of St.Caimin’s which reads OR DOARDSE[N]OIR ERENN I DOCATH[ASACH] - ‘a prayer for thechief elder of Ireland, that is, forCathasach’.

Inis Cealtra is unique for the numberof recumbent grave slabs that remainin their original position in the Saints’Graveyard. Of eighty or more carvedstones twenty-two are inscribed inIrish and most follow the formula ofasking for a prayer for the personcommemorated. They are laid out inrows, orientated in most cases withthe head to the west. A curiousfeature of some of the inscribed slabsis the inverted inscription relative tothe cross. The inscription is placed so

that a person kneeling at the head ofthe stone to pray could read the text.A few of the crosses and slabs havebeen placed inside the nave of St.Caimin’s including the head of a ninthcentury cross whose shaft may beseen outside close to the round tower.


57

Bullaun stones are usuallyassociated with early monastic sitesin Ireland although their function isnot certain. They consist of hollowedout stones and some possibilities fortheir use include receptacles forgrinding herbs for use in ritual ormedicinal purposes, as holy waterfonts for pilgrims, or for grindingwheat into flour. There is a total ofseven bullaun stones on the island,two of which may be seen in the fieldbetween the round tower and St.Brigid’s church. By the waters edgeon the south eastern shore there is astone with a hole locally called ‘thebargaining stone’. It was customaryin the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies to seal an agreement byshaking hands through the hole.

Excavations in the 1970s revealedthat the series of low earthworks,which may be seen within themonastic precinct, were re-constructed at intervals from the


thirteenth century onwards. Althoughtheir original purpose was probably todefine specific areas of activity theylater became part of the ‘rounds’whereby pilgrims to the island wouldwalk, often barefoot, from one‘station’ to another praying and doingpenance. This was a phase ofpilgrimage activity that grew up afterthe churches had gone out of use inthe sixteenth century. St. Michael’sGarden, an enclosure on the crest ofthe island, was one of those ‘stations’that also served as a cillín orunbaptised children’s’ burial ground.The pilgrimages, which wereconducted annually over four daysaround Whitsunday, were extremelypopular from the seventeenth centuryonwards and there is a report offifteen thousand people visiting theisland on one occasion. The opport-unity for moral mis-conduct at suchgatherings was all too prevalent andthe church eventually suppressed thepilgrimage in the nineteenth century.

The island is uninhabited now exceptfor the cattle which graze there andburials continue in two graveyards,one to the south of St, Caimin’schurch and the other at St. Mary’s.The main features of theecclesiastical site are outlined on aseries of storyboards located atstrategic points around the island.

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AcknowledgementsCLARE COUNTY COUNCIL

THE HERITAGE COUNCIL

DEPT. OF ENVIRONENT, HERITAGE ANDLOCAL GOVERNMENT

Editor and Introduction: Dr. PeterHarbison

Photography: Gerard Leddin, Olive Carey,Clodagh Lynch, Dr. Peter Harbison

Illustrations: Hilary Gilmore

Design & Layout: Intype Ltd., Limerick

Maps: Pádraig Mc Manus, Clare CountyCouncil

Administrative Support: CongellaMcGuire, Heritage Officer, Clare CountyCouncil

Steering Committee: Donal de Barra,Rísteárd Ua Cróinín, (ConservationOfficer, Clare County Council),Dr. Peter Harbison, Mary Kearns,Tomás MacConmara, Congella McGuire,Frances O’Gorman, John Rattigan,Sonia Schorman.

Admhálacha:COMHAIRLE CONTAE AN CHLÁIRAN CHOMHAIRLE OIDHREACHTAAN ROINN COMHSHAOIL, OIDHREACHTAAGUS RIALTAIS ÁITIÚILEagarthóir agus Réamhrá: Dr. PeterHarbisonGrianghrafadóireacht: Gerard Leddin,Olive Carey agus Clodagh LynchLéaráidí: Hilary GilmoreDearadh agus Leagan Amach: IntypeTeo., LuimneachLéarscáileanna: Pádraig Mc Manus,Comhairle Contae an ChláirTacaíocht Riaracháin: Congella McGuire,Oifigeach Oidhreachta, Comhairle Contaean ChláirCoiste Stiúrtha: Donal de Barra, RisteardUaCróinín (Oifigeach Caomhnúcháin,Comhairle Contae an Chláir),Dr. Peter Harbison, Mary Kearns,Tomás Mac Conmara, Congella McGuire,Frances O’Gorman, John Rattigan,Sonia Schorman.

Useful ContactsRiches of Clare Museum,

Ennis • 065 6823383Clare Heritage & Geneological Centre,

Corofin • 065 6837955Burren Display Centre,

Kilfenora • 065 7088030De Valera Public Library,

Ennis • 065 6846353Dysert O’Dea Castle Museum

• 065 6837401East Clare Heritage Centre,

Tuamgraney • 061 921351Ennis Tourist Office

• 065 6828366

Teagmhálaithe Úsáideacha:Músaem an Chláir,

Inis • 065 6823383Ionad Oidhreachta agus Ginealacha an

Chláir, Cora Finne • 065 6837955Ionad na Boirinne,

Cill Fhionnúrach • 065 7088030Leabharlann an Chláir,

Inis • 065 6846353Caisleán – Iarsmalann Dísirt Uí Dheá

• 065 6837401Ionad Oidhreachta Oirthir an Chláir,

Tuam Gréine • 061 921351

59

Select BibliographyGem, R., ‘Saint Flannan’s oratory at

Killaloe: a Romanesque building ofc.1100 and the patronage of kingMuirchertach Ua Briain’ in DamianBracken & Dagmar O’ Riain-Raedel (eds.), Ireland and Europein the Twelfth Century: Reform andRenewal, Dublin 2006, 74-105.

Gwynn, A. and Dermot F. Gleeson,A history of the diocese of Killaloe.Dublin 1961

Gwynn, A. and R.N. Hadcock,Medieval religious houses inIreland. London 1971 (reprinted1988).

Harbison, P., Guide to the Nationaland Historic Monuments of Ireland.Dublin 1992.

Jones, C., The Burren and the AranIslands, Exploring theArchaeology. Cork 2004.

Leask, H.G., Irish Churches andMonastic Buildings, 3 volumes,Dundalk 1955-60 (latest edition1996).

Lord Killanin and Michael V. Duignan,The Shell Guide to Ireland, 3rdedition. London 1989.

Mac Mahon, M., ‘The Charter ofClare Abbey and the Augustinian‘Province’ in Clare’, The OtherClare, vol. 17, 1993, 21-28.

Madden, G., Holy Island - Jewel ofthe Lough. East Clare Heritage1990, (reprinted 1997).

Ní Ghabhláin, S., ‘Church andCommunity in Medieval Ireland:

The Diocese of Kilfenora’ Journalof the Royal Society of Antiquariesof Ireland,vol. 125, 1995,61-84.

Ó Carragáin, T., ‘Habitual masonrystyles and the local organisationof church building in early medievalIreland’. Proceedings of the RoyalIrish Academy 105C, 2005,99-149.

O’Connell, J.W., and A. Korff (eds.),The Book of the Burren, Kinvara1991.

O’Donovan and Curry, TheAntiquities of Clare: OrdnanceSurvey Letters 1839, Clasp Press,Ennis 1997.

O’Keefe, T., Romanesque Ireland.Dublin 2003.

Robinson, T., The Burren. A map. CillRonáin 1977.

Sheehan, J., ‘The early historicchurch-sites of North Clare’, NorthMunster Antiquarian Journal 24,1982, 29-47.

Swinfen, A., Forgotten Stones.Ancient church sites of the Burrenand environs. Dublin 1992.

Westropp, T.J., ‘The churches ofCounty Clare, and the origin of theecclesiastical divisions in thatCounty’, Proceedings of the RoyalIrish Academy 22, 1900-02,100-180.

The bibliographies for each individualsite may be found by consulting theClare County Library Local Studieswebsite at www.clarelibrary.ie

Ecclesiastical Sites Of County ClareSouth-West and West Clare Trail29 Clondegad

30 Kilchreest

31 Kiladysert

32 Kilofin

33 Killimer

34 Kilrush Catholic Church –Stained Gass

35 Scattery Monastic Island

36 Kilcrony

37 Kilbaha – Little Ark

38 Kilballyowen

39 Killard

40 Kilmihil

41 Kilmurry/Ibrickane

42 Kilfarboy

South-East and East Clare Trail43 Quin Franciscan Friary

44 St. Finghin’s

45 Fenloe

46 Kilnasoolagh Church of Ireland Church

47 Bunratty

48 Cratloe – St. John’s Catholic Church –Pre-Penal Barn Church

49 Kiltenanlea

50 Killaloe – St. Flannan’s Church ofIreland Cathedral

51 Killaloe – St. Flannan’s Oratory

52 Killaloe – St. Molua’s Oratory

53 Killaloe – St. Flannan’s Catholic Church –Stained Glass by Harry Clarke, JoshuaClarke and Harry Clarke Studios

54 Tuamgraney – East Clare HeritageCentre and Church of Ireland Church –Stained Glass by A.E. Childe

55 Inis Cealtra Monastic Island

56 Clonrush

57 Tulla

58 Clooney

Mid-Clare Trail1 Ennis Franciscan Friary

2 Ennis – SS Peter & Paul CatholicCathedral

3 Ennis – St. Columba’s Church of IrelandChurch – Stained Glass by CatherineAmelia O’Brien

4 Clareabbey Augustinian Abbey

5 Clarecastle Catholic Church – StainedGlass by Michael Healy

6 Drumcliff Church and Round Tower

7 Templemaley

8 Kilraghtis

9 Ruan

10 Corofin – S. Catherine’s Church – ClareHeritage Museum - Stained Glass

11 Dysert O’Dea Romanesque Church

12 Rath

13 Kilnamona

North Clare Trail14 Killinaboy

15 Kilfenora Cathedral

16 Kilshanny

17 Kilmacreehy

18 Killilagh

19 Kilonoghan

20 Gleninagh

21 Rathborney

22 Ballyvaughan – St. John the BaptistCatholic Church – Stained Glass

23 Drumcreehy

24 New Quay – St. Patrick’s Catholic Church– Stained Glass by Gerard Walsh –Stations of the Cross by Sean O’SullivanRHA

25 Corcomroe Cistercian Abbey

26 Keelhilla – St. MacDuagh’s Hermitage

27 Kilcorney

28 Noughaval

rian na manach - a guided tour of ecclesiastical treasures ... · 6 coincidence that it was built...

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